Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (ジョゼと虎と魚たち, Joze to Tora to Sakanatachi) is a 2020 theatrical anime film based on Seiko Tanabe’s short story of the same name. The film was produced by studio Bones with director Kotaro Tamura, writer Sayaka Kuwamura and music composer Evan Call, and was theatrically released in Japanese theaters on December 2020.
Background:
“With dreams of diving abroad, Tsuneo gets a job assisting Josee, an artist whose imagination takes her far beyond her wheelchair.
But when the tide turns against them, they push each other to places they never thought possible, and inspire a love fit for a storybook.”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, March 2022.
Studio Bones have produced a lot of anime films over the years, but all of them were related to an existing anime property like Cowboy Bebop, Eureka Seven, My Hero Academia and The Vision of Escaflowne. But recently they actually worked on an original IP, or at least based on something that’s not related to anime.
Josee, the Tiger and the Fish is based on a short story from 1984 and has received an adaptation before from Japanese director Isshin Inudo in 2003, but this one is an anime adaptation by director Kotaro Tamura. The film was licensed by Anime Limited for UK theatrical release back in November 2020 with plans for a home video release, followed by Funimation who acquired the US rights in July 2021 with an English dub and theatrical. The global situation did cause some delays but the UK was able to screen the film during 2021 but it did get a brief theatrical release window.
Originally the UK release was supposed to be scheduled for November 2021, but the holiday season and OST asset issues delayed the set to March 2022. The US did manage to grab the UK’s OST but the UK release is the better offering of the two.
Collector’s Edition Contents:
Josee, the Tiger and the Fish receives a pretty solid collector’s package from the distributor and is also why the price is higher than their regular collector’s releases for the films.
This package offers a rigid box that houses the film as well as the original soundtrack CD with a digipack. Also included is a 72-page booklet with interviews from the voice actors, staff and production team who worked on the film, a 24-page booklet replicating the children’s book featured in the film, and a poster covering the map of Osaka that highlights key points from the film.
The artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The collector’s edition Blu-ray is limited to 1000 units for an SRP of £44.99. A standard edition Blu-ray & DVD are also available on the same date as the collector’s edition.
I pre-ordered the film when it was on offer for £29.99 (£27 with the Anime (Un)Limited Membership) back in October 2021.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with clean artwork and digipack packaging
- Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
- 72-page Booklet
- 24-page Replicated Children’s Booklet
- Map of Osaka
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 14th March 2022
The collector’s edition release for Josee, the Tiger and the Fish contains the film on a single Blu-ray authored by VDMS commissioned by Anime Limited (VDMS are the same folks who have worked with the distributor for the UK Blu-ray releases of InuYasha and PSYCHO-PASS: Sinners of the System for those curious). The audio options available are Japanese with English subtitles and the Funimation English dub.
The white subtitles are unlockable during playback, and the regions are locked to Blu-ray players set to B.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 2.35:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 1 BD-50 |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
- Interview with Director Kotaro Tamura
- Previews and TV Commercials
- Clean Ending
- ‘Work in Progress’ Interview from Scotland Loves Anime
- Pilot Footage
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Josee, the Tiger and the Fish is available to order through multiple retailers across the United Kingdom. The collector’s edition Blu-ray can be ordered on Amazon UK and Anime Limited’s store.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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